2005 Honda CR-V - Page 1 Review

We'll send you an email whenever there's new information about the Honda CR-V.

Alert Me!

Thank you! We will notify you when reviews, news, and incentives are released for this vehicle.

What will I get by subscribing to email updates?

At The Car Connection we are continually striving to get you timely, relevant information about the vehicle you are interested in. Our email updates will notify you whenever we have new information on this vehicle.

For example:

new car reviews for this model by our editors

news including price changes, new models, or recall info

new incentives and rebates that are being offered for this vehicle

Our goal is to keep you informed as you research!

We'll send you an email whenever there's new information about the Honda CR-V.

Alert Me!

Thank you! We will notify you when reviews, news, and incentives are released for this vehicle.

If you were looking for a
compact, car-based SUV back in 1997, things were a lot simpler than they are
today. There were only a handful on the market to choose from in those days,
with the major players being Toyota’s just-launched RAV4, the Subaru Forester,
and the Honda
CR-V.

These little runabouts offered buyers a way to get many of
the desirable “real world” attributes of a compact SUV, including higher ride
height, versatility, and the availability of a sure-footed all-wheel-drive
system, without the gas-pig appetite for fuel and clunky handling of a
traditional, truck-based sport-ute. It was a great idea, and others quickly
caught on.

Since ’97, the market for these
user-friendly “crossover” SUVs has grown like well-tended kudzu in a Georgia
hothouse. Today, there are more than a dozen of these things available to choose
from. Some, like recent entries from Kia and Hyundai, are a lot less expensive
(or better-equipped for the dollar) than the CR-V, which starts at $20,195
for the entry-level LX with front-wheel drive and runs to $25,250 for a Special
Edition with heated leather seats and all-wheel drive. Others, like the hugely
popular Ford Escape, offer more interior room, as well as brawny V-6 engines and
decent pulling ability, which the four-cylinder-only, light-duty CR-V simply
can’t match. But the CR-V remains true to the basic concept that started it all:
a fuel-efficient, agile, and easy-to-drive cross between a traditional small
sedan and a compact (but gas-thirsty and clumsy handling) SUV.

Civic pride

The CR-V’s Accord-sourced
2.4-liter engine may “only” offer up 160 hp, but it’s enough to run the CR-V to
60-mph in about 8.5 seconds. And it can tickle 30 mpg on the highway. Many
buyers don’t realize that a modern four-cylinder engine such as the CR-V’s has
power comparable to what a much larger six-cylinder engine put out in years
past. If you haven’t driven a new vehicle lately, don’t dismiss the CR-V because
it “only” has a four-cylinder engine. This one’s more than adequate for normal
driving and decently responsive, as well as
fuel-efficient.

The TCC Rating is a clear numeric rating value based on a 10-point scale that reflects the overall opinion of our automotive experts on any vehicle and rolls up ratings we give each vehicle across sub-categories you care about like performance, safety, styling and more.

Our rating also has simple color-coded “Stop” (red), “Caution” (orange), or “Go” (green) messages along with the numerical score so you can easily understand where we stand at a glance.

Our automotive experts then also collect and show you what other websites say about these different aspects of any vehicle. We do this leg work for you to simplify your research process.